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4 Jan, 2011 13:52

Snooki: Jersey Shore icon new it girl

Marilyn Monroe may be a legendary sex goddess, but Americans are a fickle people. With each decade, new icons have enamored them and created new trends.

Over the decades, these icons have included Elizabeth Taylor, Farah Fawcett, Brooke Shields and Jennifer Aniston. Now entertainment reporters are saying that Snooki is America’s new It girl.Nicole Polizzi, known by her nickname Snooki, is a 22-year-old trash-talking cast member on MTV’s reality show Jersey Shore. Why is Snooki so famous? No one seems to know, but she has stolen the sex symbol status from Hollywood’s A-listers. And now she’s everywhere…from Saturday Night Live, to the New York Stock Exchange, to jail, where even the police asked for a photo with her.Many people now look at Snooki as a representation of America.“Snooki has her own look and own signature style that Americans can relate to,” said Robin Kassner, of Haute PR in New York.“She’s average just like me…Faking it till we make it,” commented another New YorkerThe reason for Snooki’s appeal may be debatable, but her international reach is not. Jersey Shore currently broadcasts in more than 30 countries around the globe. And this has some Americans are worried that foreigners who turn to TV to learn more about America, may have a warped perception of the country.“I really don’t think she’s someone that should be looked up to as the representation of America. I think there’s very few people in New Jersey that look like her and act like her,” said a New Yorker.Regardless, she reportedly makes $30,000 an episode to drink and party with the seven other Jersey Shore cast members. Love her or hate her, Snooki is a new and different kind of symbol, completely made in America. On top of her reality TV and other MTV endeavors, Snooki has recently published her own book, one many fans of Jersey Shore are likely to buy. Entertainment correspondent Shira Lazar in Los Angeles explained that Snooki has garnered global attention because of her outgoing uninhibited personality. “She does those things that we would never do, that would perhaps embarrass everyone, but to her it’s natural and so she’s that best friend you want to be embarrassed over but at the same time you love her for who she is,” she said. “She really represents that epitome of America.”There is a large part of America who identifies with her and can relate, argued Lazar. “She already has over a million fans on twitter,” added Lazar. “Somehow people are interested in her. We’ll see though with this book, if it shows in the sales.” Snooki is not an icon, she argued, but merely a character. The glamour of Hollywood still exists through actresses like Angelina Jolie. “She’s like a cartoon,” Lazar observed.These types of characters and reality TV generally are popular not because people idolize them, but because they like to be entertained by “train wrecks”. The spotlight should however be on others, like Angelina Jolie, argued Lazar. Reality TV stars should not be what represents American culture globally.

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